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Cerea Island 2 : Current Adventures (day 9): Dyab's Unlife, the beginning |
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Saturday, 28 April 2007 |
This is an installment of the series of articles that focus on different parts of the NWN2 persistent world Cerea Island 2.
The subjects will rotate between the following: the world(cosmology and similar), gods, history, places, custom systems, big events of the past, characters, old adventures, new adventures and organizations.
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Story by Arlons:
I was just coming back to Vesper when I heard very loud singing:
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oh to hear the tale of the dead...
those who wish to hear this one from the giant titan...
come by the south bridge....
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I go there and found a group of adventurers (Bella Ballyntine, Wulfgar Firehart, RedMax Macefrost, and Feng Vilow) there. Ballyntine is the one singing:
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Undead and dead....
no guards...
A fellow as tall as three houses
He walked the roads and saw the dead.. La la la la
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There has been some big fellow telling that there is lots of unlife coming in the north road. We decide to go and investigate the matter:
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North .. north.. north to march the road...
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When we come to the north end of the village we see quite big group of undead already there. Almost two dozen. We decide to attack them, and start with fireballs and other spells. The battle takes some time, but we manage to destroy all of them. The only problem is that we can see more and more coming from the north road. There seems to be steady line of undeads coming along the road in small groups.
We do get some reinforcements during the battle when Fijdhov Tormsen joins us. We wonder where the two guards who are supposed to be here are, so we go to check the inn, and we find them from there. We tell the situation to them, but most of their forces are in the fort in the pass. So the sergeant decides to go there to take a message. We go out and search for unlife already managed to get to the village (our original retreating to the inn was mostly because we were already quite beaten up).
While we do that we notice that there is also one different looking unlife, that shouts to us AFTER being defeated that "I will be back, just wait". That does not sound very promising.
After killing the unlife in the village, we continue towards north, and in the end decide that we need to go check out what is the situation in the bandit pass. We do get more reinforcements in form of Mindra and Vach Lemainiff) at that time.
When we get close to the pass, we see that there is big group of undeads blocking the road, so we decide to take the high grounds and go around of them. When we find suitable spot we start shooting undeads with arrows and bolts, and our fighters destroy those undeads who try to reach us others.
When we are there we notice that gates are also taken by undeads, but then we notice that the few remaining guards attacks the undeads on the gates, and we go in to help them and we are able to recover the gates. We do seem to get more and more reinforcements as Yasha Loviatar Maiden joins us at this point.
After that we go up to the fort to ask what is going on. We hear that the unlife had overrun the passs and guards and paladins have not been able to contain them. They haven't sent anybody to investigate yet, as they have been tried mostly to just survive.
We promise to go and investigate what is going on in the north. We start to fight through the undeads in the pass. We get quite far and manage quite well until we get two much stronger undeads against us. Those cause a lot of damage, and we need to retreat. I try to keep on of them busy to allow my friends to recover and to escape, and in the end we manage to retreat back to the fort.
We need to think of better plan for the next time...
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Later by Arlons:
I was just walking around the vesper when I herad some shouting saying:
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Soon the south of the island will fall
My friends, prepare for attack
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I was bit worried about that, and then I heard shouting from the bandit pass:
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Here they come again, stand behind the barricade, but be prepared to fall back to the upper fort if they are too tough.
Fall back.
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Me and Gwindor Helyanwe decided to go towards the bandit pass to see what is going on there. When we did get close to the lower fort, we noticed that unlife has taken the lower fort, and there was some fighting going on in the path leading up to the fort. We realized that there was way too many undeads between us and the fort, so we decided to go around.
We went back to Vesper and took the eastern route to the giant mountains and then followed the back pass to the fort itself. There we found Thradra E'linfaluin who had arrived there from the Dyoa, she told that she had fought the unlife who had tried to get up there. And she had also healed some of the injured Militia personnel.
We went inside to the fort to talk with the solders and heard that unlife had attacked again in overwhelming numbers, and they had managed to take the lower fort. As they were coming from north, we decided it might be good idea to go and investigate the pass and the north area to find out where they were coming.
When we go along the pass high up in the mountain path we see hundreds of unlife below us walking on the road. When we come to the Dyoa we go to near the river to investigate the situation there, found a bigger group of unlife on the road waiting for something. We cannot make anything out what they are waiting. We check are to the north from there, still staying on our side of the river, and do not really see that much different things there. The amount of unlife is about normal.
We decide to go to talk to the Amjin in the House of Chondra, as Amjin is the leader of the Rangers of Chondra, so he should know what is going on around this area.
Amjin tells that there has been some strange activity going on near the waterfall. I tell him about the attacks to the vesper and to the bandit pass fort. I remember there is some altar there near the waterfall, and he tells us it is altar of Saffron Ders, seeker of Storm in late third era. We wonder if the unlife is able to get power or something from the altar or why they have selected the place near waterfall for their main activity base.
Next we go to talk the leader of the Druids, Leanna Swiftfoot. We ask if she knows more about the Saffron Ders, and she tells she had some dealings with her in the past, but she last time saw her many years before the end of era, and she have not heard of her fate in the change of era.
We decide to go and see if we can approach the waterfall. Outside we found Feng Vilow unconsious and a boar. We kill the boar and heal Feng. He tells he was here with Xerssi SilverBranch but he does not know where Xerssi is now. I notice something on north and we find Xerssi and few more boars. We get back to the house of Chondra and rest and tell them what is going on. Then we decide to go again. I have a plan that we go to north and cross the river in a place where I can remember you can get over without too much trouble and then try to sneak near the waterfall keeping very close to the river.
We get quite far but then we are blocked by one mummy. I try to sneak past it, but it senses me and starts to get ready for the battle, so I come back. I decide to send my cat Aaza to do the job, and Aaza manages to lure the mummy away from the river so we can get past it. I have never ever seen Aaza move so fast, it must have made at least 30 meter long jump when the mummy spotted it. There was no way mummy could stay behind it for long...
We get close to the waterfall and can see there is about hundred unlifes near it. Then I notice a man up in the cliff addressing the unlife:
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Listen my friends.
The day is close.
The day of our revence on that village.
We will attack it soon.
Allready their pitifull pass is breached.
So listen up.
You are no longer recruits.
You are now the eight company.
Each of you is promoted to private.
Prepare to move out. You will soon join the others in the attack.
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I notice that this might be the same man we met in Vesper during the last unlife attack, but I cannot be sure as we are quite far away, and I do not dare to go closer so they do not detect us.
We return as fast as possible back to the house of Chondra (that included me luring the mummy behind me and others running past me and then Thradra using her animal companion to get the mummy away from me). We tell Amjin what we had heard, and then start to run towards the bandit pass and the fort. In the fort we tell them what is going to happen, i.e that there is going to be around 800 unlife solders coming towards the pass and they are not going to attack up here, but just go past to the vesper.
We decide that we need to take the lower fort back at any cost. We start attack to there, and even when there are not many of us, we still manage to make progress. It seems the barricade solders have build there earlier slows the unlife down so much that we can mostly fight against them one by one, and as there is group of us we can kill them before next one comes.
In the end we managed to take the lower fort back to us, now we just need better barricades and more people to protect it against the unlife attacks.
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And later by Sheila Shessair:
I’ve been asked to write down what we learned about the man who controls the unlife yesterday, so… Where to begin…
Well, I had just met some nice people in the city square. There was a Lady named Mindra, a drow elf named Xerssi SilverBranch, a Halfling named Biam… (only at first he told me he was a dwarf) Feng Vilow,and a few others whose names I don’t quite remember.
Anyway suddenly a man appeared, shielded in arcane protections. He said the city was going to be attacked by unlife. At first I thought he had come to warn us, but apparently he was in league with the unlife and commanding them to the attack. He told us, the city would have to pay for what it had done to his family. And after more gloating he disappeared – kind of reminds me of the stories of Suttus that mommy told me.
Well, we tried to find out about any families that might have received injustice at the hands of the vesper people. At first we went to the city record office. The man there, Mr. Herman Stiltes, was very helpful, but he had only started keeping such records about five years ago, and in that time no cases like that had occurred.
Next we visited Master Pauric. We reasoned that, as the man was a mage, he would probably have studied under him. Master Pauric was interested in the case, but he didn’t know the man either. He had lived in Vesper since the Retreat and he said that Vesper had been very peaceful since the War – no whole families had died or been disgraced or anything. Although he said that during the War many families had died… Maybe that man was angry at Vesper because his family had died in the defense of the city, or because the Alliance army couldn’t protect them…
Well Master Pauric told us to seek out the clerics of d… Am at Danara, as they might know more. He asked me to stay behind for a while, so when I caught up to the others, they were already talking to a lady named Alindra, who was a cleric of… Am. She said that the unlife had some connection to the altar of Saffron near Dyoa. Some people wondered if that person might be the son of Seeker Saffron and angry about the death of his mother, but that can’t be right. Daddy told me Saffron fought with him in the Battle of the Gods and that she didn’t have any children.
Alindra had sent a ranger to scout out movements of the unlife and that we could probably meet him on the slopes of the volcano. On the way there we stopped at the temple of Storm, but they couldn’t tell us more about the evil man either. Ms. Mindra got a bottle of holy water from them however (once they had managed to find one).
We then went north to the volcano and onto the mountain slopes. I’d never been on a mountain before, and it was a bit disorienting. When we were ambushed by some demons I had a very hard time even making out their location, but Ms Mindra was there to protect me. I even managed to get in a few Magic Missiles!
After a bit of climbing we met the ranger. He told us that about a dozen unlife were guarding the altar, and he described a way we could get there unnoticed. His directions didn’t mean much to me, as I don’t know the area, but again Ms Mindra seemed to know what he was talking about.
We decided to go to the altar and try to purify it with the holy water we’d gotten. I said that would be useless, as the unlife could always just taint it again once we were gone and the others agreed. When I suggested to completely destroy the altar they were more reluctant. I don’t think Saffron would be angry though. That altar is used by unlife for foul purposes and she cannot want that.
Well, it was getting too late, so we decided to go to the place first thing the next day.
--
On Cerea Island 2:
World:
A relaxed but involved role playing environment.
A unique and believable world with a long documented history.
Long and intertwined story lines by DMs, with the PCs actions having real effect.
80+ scripted quests, with the number increasing constantly.
Player versus environment focus.
Highly detailed areas.
Systems:
Proper money system with different types of coins, money weight and banks.
Loot system without loot bags on the ground.
A shop system allowing you to equip items to test before buying.
A experience system that discourages farming.
A reputation based leveling system.
A guild system where guild members can help the advancement of each other.
A unique offtime system placing your character in the world even when logged out.
Feel:
Having a Paper and Pen feeling with the systems and areas encouraging, but not requiring adventuring
parties.
Slow leveling, with farming and grinding not being very helpful.
role playing and maturity expected.
More at: [url]http://www.cerea2.com[/url]
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 December 2007 )
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Cerea Island 2 : Past Adventures (day 8): Balors Don't Sit. |
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Saturday, 28 April 2007 |
This is an installment of the series of articles that are to be published daily.
They focus on different parts of the NWN2 persistent world Cerea Island 2.
The subjects will rotate between the following: the world(cosmology and similar), gods, history, places, custom systems, big events of the past, characters, old adventures, new adventures and organizations.
This story comes from the book "Cerea - Adventures in an online world" ISBN: 978-1-4303-1486-8
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By Tara
It all started, when Alinde Colds got her hands on a balor summoning gem, and decided to tame one as a pet. She was at my house with my sister Icilia, when she ordered the balor to "Sit on the Sofa". The balor, turned to the sofa, tossed out a fireball that burned up the sofa. Alinde is a very stubborn girl. She does not give up easily. I lost three sofas that day.
Some friends and I discussed the danger of balors, and the gem with the girls. I thought they understood. *Sigh* She said they were great fun, and her sister Janah had gone to buy gems.
We set off to find the man selling the gems and stop him: A "Short man planting flowers in Vesper". We found the trail of flowers in Vesper, and the Sheriff said the main had used a flyer to go to Cerea, muttering about buying more seed.
The flower lady gave us a bit of trouble. She took one look at Borg in his new clothing, her jaw dropped and all she could do was stare and grunt. (If you haven't seen it yet, I won't describe it and spoil the surprise). We finally had to invisible Borg, stand between him and the flower lady and get him to be quiet, before she would even notice us. Seems the little man had bought almost all her seeds and left, muttering about going home.
We tried Bushburrow, but he wasn't there. The guard did know who we were looking for though: Merrin Trapspringer. Merrin was under a sentence to plant 10,000 flowers (something about selling bad boots to giants, he is just lucky they didn't turn him over to the giants for punishment).
We decided to check on Janah, and a good thing we did. We found the Cold's home filled with balors. Janah and a friend had a bunch of gems. We took them all away and gave them stern lectures on the dangers of balors. I thought they listened.
We headed back to the market, and found a cousin of Merrin's, who said he had gone to a temple to get the seeds blessed so they would grow quicker.
We found Merrin in the temple of the land under the sewers. He had found the gems up on the mountain just lying around, somewhere near the mountain temple. He had no idea what the gems did, they were just pretty and the kids seemed to like to buy them. He had no more, having just sold his last 20 to Janah… uh oh.
Sure enough, outside the Colds house we found balors in the street. And the inside was filled. The girls had decided to see how many they could fit in the room... Again, we took all their gems.
We then headed up the mountain, seeing no gems on our way. At the mountain temple, the half-dragon cleric said she had run into Marcus near the entrance. He had dropped some gems. Seems he was on his way to speak to the firedragon.
We hurried to the dragon's lair. And there was Marcus, with a large number of balors. After dispatching the balors, we had a chat with Marcus.
Seems he discovered some information about a portal to other dimensions in the marshlands. He was gathering dragon parts to 'test something'. (Where has he been? Under a rock? We have used that portal several times, there is even a book telling about it in Noma). He was using the balors to fight the dragon.
I gave him a bag to put his gems in. He has gotten so clumsy since becoming a lich.
We found a few other interesting things in our discussion with him. He really hates Suttus and wants to personally kill him. Seems there is a pocket dimension where Suttus is friends with the inhabitants, and that is what Marcus is seeking. (I wonder if he is talking about the Hooded Wizard's home?).
We headed back to my house, where we found... Yep, you guessed it: a balor. The girls had had one last gem.
So, it was the end of the day. I had no sofas in my living room. No ale keg (that was thanks to Borg who decided to use one of the gems). I did have a lot of lovely flowers outside (I had told Merrin to plant a bunch as punishment for selling those gems to the kids).
But, no one was hurt. And the Sheriff said his dad builds furniture. I will get something new soon I hope. Until then, we can sit elsewhere.
Unless Alinde decides to try a different pet...
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On Cerea Island 2:
World:
A relaxed but involved role playing environment.
A unique and believable world with a long documented history.
Long and intertwined story lines by DMs, with the PCs actions having real effect.
80+ scripted quests, with the number increasing constantly.
Player versus environment focus.
Highly detailed areas.
Systems:
Proper money system with different types of coins, money weight and banks.
Loot system without loot bags on the ground.
A shop system allowing you to equip items to test before buying.
A experience system that discourages farming.
A reputation based leveling system.
A guild system where guild members can help the advancement of each other.
A unique offtime system placing your character in the world even when logged out.
Feel:
Having a Paper and Pen feeling with the systems and areas encouraging, but not requiring adventuring
parties.
Slow leveling, with farming and grinding not being very helpful.
role playing and maturity expected.
More at: [url]http://www.cerea2.com[/url]
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 06 May 2007 )
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Cerea Island 2 : Characters (day 7): The story of a Tenderbottum |
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Saturday, 28 April 2007 |
This is an installment of the series of articles that are to be published daily.
They focus on different parts of the NWN2 persistent world Cerea Island 2.
The subjects will rotate between the following: the world(cosmology and similar), gods, history, places, custom systems, big events of the past, characters, old adventures, new adventures and organizations.
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*small neat writing on crisp page in a diary*
I can almost remember my Parents.. its was a long time ago.. more like I can feel there essence in that last goodbye. A while back my parents and I lived on a farm where it was quiet and beautiful. My father was a excellent Farmer and his garden grew with food to eat and many strange flowers who's scents would make you swoon as if you overate on a Warm summer day, and needed a good nap in the sun. My Mother was so strong it seemed nothing hurt her, whenever I got hurt or almost got into trouble, there She would be to protect me in Her arms. I still miss that feeling.
All of a sudden it was over my parents and I was on a ship with lots of other people. My father and mother didn't seem to have much time for me, they seemed to be more worried about the other kids and there parents. When I started to cry about this my mother kindly said "Remember my little tornado your heart is stronger than you think and this will pass, but your father and I need to help those who cant take care of themselves".
My parents and I went to this huge city where there was a Temple of Storm. The Priestesses were glad to see my Parents and they left to go talk in a back room. one of the younger priestesses took me into area where there was lots of other kids my age, most of them were crying about how there parents were killed or they didn't know what happened to there families.
After a few Days my Parents came and sat me down. I knew something was up because both my parents took turns Hugging me a real long time with tears in there eyes. Finally my dad spoke and told me that He and Mom had to help others like these kids here, and Asked me if I understood. Even though I didn't I nodded. I never saw my dad cry before and it was unsettling. After that both hugged me for a long time and said they loved me and to remember our farm near Bushburrow and someday we would return. then the next thing I knew they were gone. a priestess had come for me and said that Storm took my parents to where they were needed.
Many years I was at the Temple helping out till I turned 16, I told the Archbishop that Storm took my Parents away and that I just couldn't handle being stuck there not knowing if they ever died. So I left. the archbishop was a kindly old lady and she gave me enough money to buy a ticket back to Derimir to where my families farm was. When I got there all the memories came back and I cried for a long time but I knew that wouldn't help so I Got started fixing up the place those 12 years were hard on the building and the fields went to seed with weeds and native plants. The one thing that got me was that my Parent's Temple to Storm wasn't even dusty and the water was flowing like nothing ever happened.
After five years of working the farm by myself and reading thru my parents books most of there diaries ended a few years before I was born. I decided to find out what happened to all my Parent's friends to see Why they allowed them to disappear like that. Maybe they would help me Save them or at least get a answer of why they didn't go with my parents. I know That if they went with my Mom and Dad I wouldn't Still be alone today. I Blame them for allowing Storm to take away my parents
My first place to look is Vesper. its close and some lady called Tara Thenton lived there she was some type of Guardian. We will see why She didn't help guard those my parents went off to save.
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Well it has been a few days.. I have met a few people in Vesper the home town of that Tara lady .. apparently she is some big wig mayor or something but she is never home.. (she has some nice sweet peas growing outside the house though) but I was able to hook up with Mindy .. She knows a lot about the past of Vesper and Cerea.. with some exceptions.. after a few days I got the courage to show up at the local temple of Storm and who was there old Maldo.. the one who baptized me as a kid in naye bay.. I could still see his shining eyes. I heard that a few of the young adventurers were heading off to a Follower of Storm's house .. hmn maybe some information of my parents will be found..
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Yes, with Gwin and Steele, I came to a realization.. I could have been as that guy who is summoning unlife to attack Vesper.. if I let my anger and need for vengeance come forth.. at least stepped back, and let the anger leave me.. after we destroyed the altar and a few nasty crypts, I met Tara Thenton-Jurssen.. she said the last she knew of my parents they left for the mainland and she didn't even knew that I was born.. hmn maybe it was really chaotic times.. maybe Celia or Painia will know more.. I met a nice looking lady her name was Shelia.. she was shocked when she heard who my Parents were. I need to talk to her at a later date.. maybe I can invite her over for a nice lemongrass tea and some truffles.
--
On Cerea Island 2:
World:
A relaxed but involved role playing environment.
A unique and believable world with a long documented history.
Long and intertwined story lines by DMs, with the PCs actions having real effect.
80+ scripted quests, with the number increasing constantly.
Player versus environment focus.
Highly detailed areas.
Systems:
Proper money system with different types of coins, money weight and banks.
Loot system without loot bags on the ground.
A shop system allowing you to equip items to test before buying.
A experience system that discourages farming.
A reputation based leveling system.
A guild system where guild members can help the advancement of each other.
A unique offtime system placing your character in the world even when logged out.
Feel:
Having a Paper and Pen feeling with the systems and areas encouraging, but not requiring adventuring
parties.
Slow leveling, with farming and grinding not being very helpful.
role playing and maturity expected.
More at: [url]http://www.cerea2.com[/url]
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 May 2007 )
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Cerea Island 2 : Big events of the past (day 6) : Suttus tales chapter 1 |
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Saturday, 28 April 2007 |
This is an installment of the series of articles that are to be published daily.
They focus on different parts of the NWN2 persistent world Cerea Island 2.
The subjects will rotate between the following: the world(cosmology and similar), gods, history, places, custom systems, big events of the past, characters, old adventures, new adventures and organizations.
This story is taken from the book "Cerea - Adventures in an online world" ISBN: 978-1-4303-1486-8
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Chapter 1 - Letters to Saff
By Tara
Excerpt From New research material commentary Derimir, in the eighth year of
beaver, first periods, fourth era:
These priceless letters recovered from the private collection of demigod Saffron Ders
in the missions to explore the northern parts of the island are a valuable resource in
our current understanding of one of the biggest threats faced by the free people of
Derimir in the late third era, Suttus.
Dear Saff,
I hope your visit with your folks is going well. Something should go well.
Things are not well on Cerea.
We really miss your strong and commanding presence.
Others have tried, and some have a bit of success, but none can command respect the way you do.
Some recent events you have missed.
We went through the first gate. It was scary to cast that implode on myself. I had expected to do it with you by my side. But it worked. We were in a place we had never seen before, and immediately came across a body. We believe it is the old man for whom we searched. But, everyone wanted to explore and see if we couldn't find his spirit. It was impossible. It was a mess. We fought forever: Pale creatures II, III and IV, Chaos Riders, balors... So, we finally regrouped and started to come back, and guess what?
Yep, you got it. We didn't have all the parts so we couldn't get back.
Now, we are keeping busy fighting off drow attacks around Cerea. The drow are trying to take Naredia back. It seems she let their slaves lose and they are not happy about that. People still mistrust Naredia, since she is drow. It is hard for her to get accepted, but I am slowly coming to believe in her.
And the gypsies have run off. You know, it's that time of year when they camp outside of Naye Bay, at their traditional site, on their yearly pilgrimage. And it seems that the people in the nearby town were not happy and tried to run them off. A gypsy woman came into Cerea seeking help. We formed a group and headed out to talk to them. Araval had hopes of mediating and solving it without bloodshed. But alas, some of the newer recruits didn't listen. Instead of putting away weapons and approaching the gypsy camp slowly, they rushed in with weapons raised.
Needless to say, the gypsies ran off, after a bit of bloodshed. The townsfolk came out and thanked us. After some talking they told us how they were going to chop down the forest and put up more
shops. We were horrified! We didn't want them to. It got confusing then. The shop guy came back with some thugs (some were guards, but I am sure some were thugs). One of them attacked Neowen, and in defending herself, she killed him. There was a trial (oh, it was so sweet when Vindir spoke up for her, he is so smitten). Many spoke up for her, and she did get off. But it was not a good day.
New people are visiting every day. New people are good, nice for the economy.
My cousin Sara has come for a while. She is a sweet soul, just a bit... misguided. She is unpredictable and seems to have no set path in life. You will meet her when you return.
The Sheriff is wonderful. He comes by every evening to check on me. Often he stays for supper and we will stroll by the river. I think he likes me.
Take care. Say hello to your folks for us, and return soon.
Your Friend,
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
I am back from a week of solitary soul searching as I sailed about the islands. I am at peace, and now am content to go wherever the path of my life chooses to take me.
I haven't seen the Sheriff yet. Though Icilia said he has come by every night while I was away, I fear he is avoiding me in case I have changed my mind concerning our relationship. Not sure where I stand, I will wait and see him and talk to him before I comment.
Boink became Seeker. They had a wonderful time yesterday, when he woke up, hung over and missing his speedoes. Woot Woot! I was not home, but Sara told me all about it. I am afraid she seemed to enjoy it a bit too much. But, Sara has always had a gleam in her eye when the topic comes to men. I just hope someday she will find someone to make her want to settle down with just one.
Anyway, it seemed that Boink had a few additional items in his pack, but no memory of the night before, so they had a great time trying to retrace his steps. Seems he and the glove merchant... well... I won't spread rumours, but I have never seen "LOVE" spelled out in giant hearts in the Greenwoods, as Sara claims to have seen. Anyway, it all was his god playing tricks on him and testing him. And in the end, he received his title and they had a big celebration. Though… I do wonder about him and the glove merchant.
Today, we set out once again to close that portal. We need to get back to the other world and find the soul of the old man. We had ventured there once before, but the balors were too numerous for us.
So, today, the Professor at the Academy outside Naye Bay, told us (eventually though, because he tends to ramble), about the Dark Knights. They had started out fighting for good, but went bad after their original leader had died. They were legendary for the number of balors they killed. "Almost as many as Saffron Ders". (That’s a direct quote from the Professor). We found their fort off the old Greywoods road and proceeded to search it throughout. We had a bit of a rough time at first, as we were a large group and a bit of wandering and opening doors was drawing large crowds of nasty Dark Knights. But, we did pull together and do well in the end.
We now have 3 books to help us with the destruction of balors. I have one in my possession, but am almost afraid to touch it. I plan to be very careful as I examine it.
I will write again, to let you know how our adventures go. Your guidance and friendship is much missed.
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
We made another trip to the other side today. I called for those willing to travel with me and a strong group of friends gathered at my home. Everyone contributed dragon parts, and with a bit of searching we came up with 2 full sets.
Once again we went to the portal site, laid down the dragon parts, formed a circle, and I cast implosion on myself.
No one died. Whew. It still scares me to do that. I was really wishing for you at my side there. Not that I actually want to cast implosion on you... Well only sometimes.
Once again, we were at the same place. Armed with the balor books, we were able to search the whole place, wiping out balors along the way. Was hard to keep everyone moving, you know those spell casters - they like to rest, but we did well.
Then we found the Hooded Wizard. It seems we were in his home. We did not kill him; he disappeared.
We also did not find the soul of the old man. We heard him once or twice, but had no luck finding him.
We travelled back to Cerea, through a portal the Hooded Wizard had opened. I was not comfortable with that, but we used it to get back.
Needing advice and unable to locate the professor, we travelled to see Mr. Colds. It seems, that I cannot open the portal to the right place alone. I have the will, but not the focus. Without the focus, I am drawn to places that my soul feels ... oh what's the word I need... not comfortable... but... where my soul feels... familiar things. Why was I drawn to the Hooded Wizard's home? I hate to suggest the answer... I will leave it for now while I finish explaining our gate quandary.
We need a seeker, preferably chaotic... to stand beside me. We need you. But, as you are far away, we must examine our other options.
Oh, I wish you were here to give me advice. Mr. Colds offered a few names of those that are qualified to help us. Unfortunately, he listed Suttus first. Yes, he is still around. Not that Suttus would do it for us... at least not without a terrible cost. There seems to be some link between the Hooded Wizard and Suttus and that is why I was drawn to his house.
Why? Why must Suttus still be around? Why must I fight this inner turmoil again? I heard his name, and felt the power ... felt it tingling in my skin still.
How can I do this alone?
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
After a brief consultation, and a look at our choices, we decided to approach Marcus for help with the gate.
He was having trouble with the Chaos Riders, so in exchange for helping us, he wanted us to go kill the Chaos Rider captain, which we did.
Then he 'helped' us, by telling us we needed a compass. And the only one he could point us to (bad pun), was in the old fort a couple of hundred years ago. So, we need a scroll of time travel. I had never heard of such a thing, though he says they appear from time to time. (I could hear him chuckling to himself as he made this bad pun; I so wanted to kick him in the shins).
I am afraid I lost my temper and yelled at Marcus. My nerves were bad from the trip to the Chaos Rider fort. We had many deaths, and some excess running around which drew many at a time. At one point, Lieutenant Jursen had to come help us.
I haven't talked to the Sheriff yet, at least, not alone. He isn't very happy with me, since I left without saying anything to him. He isn't sure how to feel about me, or what our chances of a future are. I don't know what to think. I had to leave. Had to try and sort myself out. Well, I will see him soon I hope, and we can figure out if we have a chance together.
Your Friend,
Tara
P.S. Thankfully I haven't heard anything from Suttus yet. I shudder to think of meeting him again, and yet... I knew in the back of my mind that he wasn't done with me yet.
--
Dear Saff,
Another good day... getting closer - or so we hope.
Yesterday, we found the scroll of time travel. Or freeze time, or however it works, I don't think I understand it, but Vindir did, and I trust him. Anyway we found enough, so that today our large group could all go back 400 years and see the glory of the Fort before it was destroyed.
We did well. Walked in and didn't kill a thing. I was afraid someone would get trigger happy, and we would do something in the past, to harm our current world. We arrived and explained our search to the elf mage, who helped us. We had to pay for the compass, but it was only 400k.
After returning to our own time, we headed to the portal and promptly created a gate. I am afraid we only put down 3 dragon parts, and so the gate went to the wrong area. We didn't find the old man, though we did run into Suttus. He seemed to find us amusing.
We had a bit of trouble with some trapped chests. I wish people could learn to be patient while the rogue tends to traps. It took a few deaths... um... quite a few, for them to step back and let Anas work.
Anas... hmm... now she is one to watch. I don't quite trust her. She snuck off when we went to the fort and said she was just trying to 'talk' to the shopkeeper, but I am suspicious that she was trying to pick his pocket. She is very focused on items, ok, so she is a rogue, but... just watch her.
We all made it back and tried a new gate, this time using all the dragon parts. We ended up in the Pale VI. Yep, that's six ... I did not get my roman numerals backwards. It was tough fighting, but I am happy to say that everyone stayed together and we could handle the demons one at a time.
We found the old man, but couldn't get through to him. I mean we couldn't get him to talk to us. We tried all sorts of things to help him, or get him to come with us, but nothing worked. I feel like the answer is staring me in the face, but I can't quite see it.
We decided to seek more help. So, we ran back through all the Pales. At the temple of Storm, the healer didn't have any help for us, but she did suggest the Half-dragon Cleric.
I guess we will head out there tomorrow.
On a personal note, I did speak briefly with the Sheriff. He found me wool-gathering by the lake, and we spoke for a few minutes. All we can do is wait until we get this portal closed again, so we can sit down and talk, to see if we have a future.
Who knows, now that I have the compass, and seem to be able to control my travelling, maybe I can become an official Navigator and join a guild? Hmm... I wonder if they have a god or goddess who will accept me.
Hope you and your family are doing well,
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
This will be brief. Things are moving along nicely, with some surprising developments.
Basically we found out that the old man's elven wife had left him long ago for a Dragonlord. The wife is who he misses, who left him so lonely. The Half-dragon Cleric is the daughter of the abandoning wife and the Dragonlord. I won't bore you with details of the misleading information and the gossip an old woman gave us in Vesper, (We were searching for a natural granddaughter of the old man at first.) nor of the frustration of trying to find out anything about the old man from his hometown Noma.
The cleric went with us to Pale VI, and the old man actually acknowledged her, but only briefly. The trip back through the Pale was terrible, people running this way and that, was very confusing. We really need to concentrate on staying together. I will take some blame, as we said, "Let's go, No fighting, Let's run!" and I took off. When I hit the portal, I saw no one behind me. They hadn't moved. I went off to the side, because I had about five of those demons on me and wanted to keep the portal clear. I used many heal spells until they finally started moving. But then it was all scraggly. We had people on about three levels at one time. And our march up there had been so good.
We now head out to seek a ring. We hope this ring might be the old man's focus or give us a clue; it is fairly simple with some elven writing on it. This ring was very important to the wife, but she lost it on a visit to her home long ago. Her home is on Cerea, so no magical travel for this, which is good, as I am getting queasy from all the jumps through space or time.
I hope your visit with your family is going well, but please know that your friends miss you greatly, and are anxious for you to return.
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
The tangled web of relations continues to unravel as we talk to more and more people.
It seems that Re Dana, was the wife of the old man, who left him for the Dragonlord, and is the mother of the Half-dragon Cleric. She is also the sister of Am Dana, a high-level wizard who roams the island with a bow in hand and quick wit on his tongue. They also have another brother, who is no less than the great god Ra.
We found the ring for the females of the Dana family. Its purpose remains shrouded to us. We are now going to seek out Ra, and try to locate the ring for the males of the Dana family and see if together they wield a power.
Oh, and I forgot. Neowen has obtained seeker status. Several days ago, we were defeated at the house of keys in R'Lyeh, and Ra came to our rescue. Well, he didn't come to rescue us actually. He came to find Neowen and praise her for reaching a seeker level. He was more irritated at having to step over all the bodies, so he raised us so we could get out of his way.
I despair of ever being praised and blessed as a seeker, of ever reaching enlightenment. Without a god, goddess or some being of power I will not be able to achieve it. It has gone so far that those who are seekers keep assuring me I can worship them when they become a demigod. Very humiliating.
Please hurry home.
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
Today, we sought out Ra. On our way, we chatted with Am. He sure does have an interesting family. Seems there were 4 kids. Am is the eldest. Ra and Re (the lady married to the Dragonlord) are twins, and Em is the youngest. We really don't know much about Em yet, except that Am likes him and he is on the island occasionally.
After denying he had any family for a while, Ra finally admitted to having the Dana ring. He is actually such a blustery little boy. I hear there was a lot of... competition between him and Am. I think deep down they really care about each other, they seem to be envious, jealous and admiring at the same time. I think I upset Ra, when I asked why he was concerned about Am; after all he is a great god, and Am is nothing. He fainted. Or maybe he fainted about something else, not sure.
We must really watch Anas. I do not trust her. She seeks power for herself, and always items. She is not subtle at all about it, she is always hollering for Suttus, and seeking to ingratiate herself with anyone that might have power. She is also impatient when we chat with people, never wanting to take the time to converse with the pleasantry that shows good manners. Today, I think we were all ready to sacrifice her to Ra, but, alas, a sacrifice was not needed.
Well, Ra did agree to let us borrow the ring, but it is only for a male elf. And we had none. So, he agreed to deliver it to Vindir. I hope he does it soon.
I have hopes that when we get the two rings together, it will help somehow.
Hurry Home,
Tara
--
Dear Saff,
We did it! We closed the portal!
We found the temple of Jaysek in R'Lyeh (hmm, that doesn't look right, I must learn the correct spelling). Araval was very pleased to have his long search over. The priest there was able to tell us how to release the soul of the old man by undoing the spell Suttus had used.
Suttus appeared several times along the way, trying to stop us with groups of summoned balors. Then after we closed the portal, he tried to tell us that our focus on the old man, had helped him by allowing the old man to have hope and hang on longer than he would have without our focus and thus keep the portal open just long enough for Suttus to complete his work. What is his work? Well, it has something to do with assembling three armies.
I think he was bluffing us. I don't believe the old man would have been released without our help. I think Suttus is trying to make us hesitant and doubtful of what we do.
We have become a good working group. Our adventures have given us a bit of comfort with each other, and our teamwork is much improved over our first few... disastrous outings.
We will face Suttus again; I know it.
I hope you will be back to fight with us when we do.
Tara
On Cerea Island 2:
World:
A relaxed but involved role playing environment.
A unique and believable world with a long documented history.
Long and intertwined story lines by DMs, with the PCs actions having real effect.
80+ scripted quests, with the number increasing constantly.
Player versus environment focus.
Highly detailed areas.
Systems:
Proper money system with different types of coins, money weight and banks.
Loot system without loot bags on the ground.
A shop system allowing you to equip items to test before buying.
A experience system that discourages farming.
A reputation based leveling system.
A guild system where guild members can help the advancement of each other.
A unique offtime system placing your character in the world even when logged out.
Feel:
Having a Paper and Pen feeling with the systems and areas encouraging, but not requiring adventuring
parties.
Slow leveling, with farming and grinding not being very helpful.
role playing and maturity expected.
More at: [url]http://www.cerea2.com[/url]
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 28 April 2007 )
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